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A Magazine for Sheffield

DeAD SheEP Glassface EP

Tom Jarvis’ three-track EP has it all – Morricone cowboy movie vista music, restless Americana harmonica grooves and Andalusian labyrinths of solitude. And it’s extraordinarily good.


Released: 23 May 2021
Glassface EP

Ex-Reverend and The Makers multi-instrumentalist Tom Jarvis is the driving force behind musical collective DeAD SheEP and their three-track EP Glassface, ably assisted by the excellent Liz Hanley (violin), Jonny Dean (vocals, harmonica, saw – yes saw) and Joan Dark (drums and percussion).

Tom’s musical journey after leaving the Makers led him to Montreal, where his krautrock-influenced band pachyderm (Tom and Frenchman Nico Braesch) released three critically-acclaimed albums. He then moved to Paris to study Turkish folk music before returning to Sheffield.

The musical influences gleaned from an education in global sound perspectives manifest themselves in this smorgasbord of alt/art rock songs that demonstrate the impressive array of musical textures Tom has at his disposal.

‘Glassface’ kicks off proceedings with sweeping vista sonics reminiscent of a Morricone cowboy movie, augmented by a meandering guitar riff that makes you think the Magnificent 7 are about to hove into view. Barroom harmonies underpin a picked acoustic guitar spasm with a Turkish vibe that slides in from an angle so oblique you’d need a periscope to see it coming.

The cover of Gun Club’s 1982 ‘Mother Of Earth’ is a tour de force, with a restless, driving Kurt Vile Americana groove, underpinned throughout, and in the whipped up slow-burn finale and coda, by Jonny Dean’s superb harmonica work.

Closer ‘Redeemer’, with its Led Zep ‘Kashmir’ style intro, menacing Andalusian psychedelic acoustic guitar and repeated “labyrinth of solitude” lyric (referencing the book by Mexican poet Octavio Paz) shows there’s no lack of ambition or fear of experimentation by this gifted collective.

It’s good. It’s extraordinarily good.

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